Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-02-04
.IFE m SHEER !
low Psopls Live q the Csldsst Inhabited Spot II
the Globe,

Iow People Live II ths Csldest Inhabited Spot IL
tie Globe. ,zs.;
Liettenant W. H. schsutze, Of the
United States Navy, who was sent to
The Lena Delta in Northwestern ST.
IBERIA to deliver to the natives gifts
from the Government Of the United
States to repay them for the aid they
rendered him in his search for the
missing members of the Jeanette
party, has recently returned from
there. He says that the town of Yer
oynsk, Siberia, is the coolest inhabit-
ID spot in the world. The thermou,e-
ter stood eighty-six below zero when
be was there, and he says it seldom
goes above fifty below. I asked hum the
other day what the people did who
lived at this blissfnl spot; what they
had to eat and how they liked it.
"Why,' he replied, "they think it is
q pretty good sort OF a climate
Home, Sweet Home is the song all
the world over, and if the Veroynskers
should come here they would wonder
what people did where it is so hot.
They would smother in this climate
and pine for stiff Northwesterly Arc
tic gale. It is wonderful the amount
of cold human flesh can endure. The
natives of TERRA del Fuego 90 stark
naked the year round, and in their
country it freezes every night. 1t is
much colder in the Lena Delta, yet
the people manage to keep comforta-
bic, and more die of smallpox and
scurvy than from the effects of the in
tense cold. You seldom hear of any
ones freezing to death, and then it is
only those who expose themselves
imprudently. More people are frozen
to death in the United States than in
Siberia"
But how do they manage to keep
warm?"
"Well, in the first place the Yakuts
are all enduring race, and are born in
that climate. Their houses are built
of logs, smeared over on the outside
and inside with mud. In each cabin
is g. large fireplace which is used for
both heating and cooking. There is
seldom more than one room in these
cabins, and usually the owners cattle,
if he has any, occupy one end OF the
room in which he lives, being tied or
prevented from tramplins on the ba~
bies by bar. The houses are COM
monty very comfortable, but are
awfully dirty, and sn,all-there is no
word is describe it. Often until 1 got
used to it would rather lie down III
the out side, with the thermome-
ter SO deg. below zero, than sleep in
one OF these huts.
Have they windows in their
houses?"
Eyes, ice windows. They use ice
as we use glass. A clear piece is select
ed, about five or six inches thick, NOR
ticed IN the window opening in blocss
two feet and sometimes as large as
four feet square, and with water is
made solid. The water is as good as
putty. When the window becomes
dirty, they scrape it off with a knife,
and when it has been scraped thin they
substitute a new pane
doesn't the window ever melt?"
"Bless you, no; it is freezing cold
that far from the fire. If the room
ever got warm enough to melt the ice
the Yakut couldn't live"
"How do they sleep? Do they un-
dress when they go to bed?"
"Always. They strip to their shirts,
which are made Of g. thick sort of Rus
sion cloth as heavy as our canvas.
The men and women wear the same
kind of garments, and never have
more than one at a time. l took up
a. lot of thick flannel for them, enough
to last the rest OF their lives, and it
will be a great deal more comfortable
than the native stuff, although they
don't like it at first. When they UNI
! dress they get into hunks built in the
| side of the house, sometimes man,
his wife and all his children in the
same bunk. They have reindeer skins
! under and over them, and curtains of
the same hanging before the hunks.
| The last man or woman to undress
hangs all the clothing of the rest out
doors over a pole that is kept for
! that purpose"
What is that for?"
| ITO freeze the lice They couldn't
live if they didn't do it, and it has be-
come national custom. The liceget
into the fur, and that is the only way
to get them out. by hanging their
clothes over the pole every night they
can keep reasonably free from them,
but the fur fills up again the next
day"
"Do they ever bathe?"
'Never in their lives; they havn't
any word for bathing in their Ian
guage, and the impossibility of keeping
clean is one Of the greatest hardships
| OF Arctic life."
"What do they eat?"
"Reindeer meat, beef-they have
COWS, queer looking animals about
half as large as ours, with a hum
! mock on their backs like O. camel
fish, bread made of black rye flour,
tea and an imported food made
of chopped beef rolled into balls
| about the size of marble and covered
! with dough. Miy>d with reindeer
meat it makes H. good soup. They
often eat their fish raw. OF course
they freeze solid as soon as they are
taken out OF the water, and the native,
particularly if he is on the road, cuts
them off in shavings as thin as our
Clipped beef and eats them raw. They
are palatable and I have lived for
days at a time on them, with a cup
OF tea made over an alcohol lamp by
way Of variety. The greatest luxury
they havetis butter, and they will eat
it by the pound as our people eat con-
dictionary. A poor sort Of butter is
made from thesnnilk OF the native COW
that looks and tastes more like cheese,
and they prizeit above all other class
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